'Once Upon a Time' Season Finale Recap: Did Storybrooke Get Destroyed?

The intense, high-stakes season finale scatters the fairy-tale characters into several different worlds, setting up a juicy, action-packed third season.

With Storybrooke on the verge of destruction, Regina and Emma team up to save the town. But while their attention is diverted, Greg and Tamara go after their true target: Henry!

Using a magic bean, they jump away to a different land. But how can Regina and Emma save Henry without another portal? Showing that he does have a conscience Hook uses the last magic bean to steer his ship -- with Regina, Emma, Mary Margaret, David, and Mr. Gold on board -- to follow Henry.

Beginnings and endings

Continuing where we left off last week, Bae is on board Hook's ship, but Smee thinks it's a bad idea. "If we return the boy to him, it could be the very key to our survival," he says. Hook seems OK with that until Bae tells him his name. Oh yeah, that Baelfire -- the son of the woman he loved. The son of the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin. That kid.

The menacing Lost Boys show up and warn Hook not to hide the boy from them. They search the ship, but Bae is well hidden.

In Storybrooke, Gold is just about kill his own grandson, when Emma and her parents arrive. David and Snow break the news that Neal was shot by Tamara and whisked away by a portal. Emma, meanwhile, consoles a sobbing Henry. Gold blames himself for bringing magic to this land in the first place.

Down in the mines, Greg and Tamara activate the trigger, and a rippling tremor tears through Storybrooke. Regina thinks she can slow it down but not for long. Hook, who's decided that he values life over revenge, teams up with David to find the stolen magic beans so they can escape to the safety of the Enchanted Forest.

Emma works to gather the townspeople together, but the dwarves want to do something first: make a potion to help Sneezy remember who he is (if you forgot, he lost his true identity when he crossed the town line). Seems the Blue Fairy just figured out the formula. Yeah, Gold is a little incredulous, too. Who cares, it's a trivial plot detail -- what's important is that this means he can make Lacey remember that she's Belle, too!

David and Hook track down Greg, but Tamara shoots at them. In a tussle, Hook manages to grab a bean, but Greg and Tamara get away. Let them go, Hook urges, they have what they were looking for.

Hero of the story

Neverland flashback: Hook's getting positively fatherly! He shows Bae how to steer the ship and tells off Smee when he again warns about "Him." But Bae soon turns on his father figure when he finds a drawing of his mother and realizes that Hook was the pirate who "killed" her.

Hook tries to explain that they were in love and that Rumple is responsible for Mila's death, but Bae refuses to listen. He wants to go back to the Darling family, but it's too late. Fine, then, he wants off the ship -- now!

In Storybrooke, Rumple gives Lacey the memory potion and she goes back to being Belle. Meanwhile, Emma checks on Regina, who looks completely drained by holding in the trigger's destructive power. Slowing it down will take all her strength, Regina admits, which causes Emma to realize that the Evil Queen isn't planning on returning to Fairy Tale Land with them.

When she breaks the news to Henry at the diner, he pleads with Emma to save her. They're family, and you don't leave family behind. Snow comes up with an idea: They got rid of the wraith (Season 1 finale) by pushing it through a portal -- what if they did the same thing to the diamond? It's worth a try, Snow says; otherwise, they're building a future on Regina's blood.

Hook doesn't really want to give up the bean, but Emma talks him into it. Henry has lost enough parents, she says, and Hook seems shocked to find out that Henry's father is Neal/Baelfire.

But when Emma reaches the mines, she finds that Hook's pouch is empty. He tricked her! There's no bean; Storybrooke will be destroyed. She hugs her parents, and Henry hugs Regina. Then, suddenly, Emma has an idea -- she has magic within her. Maybe the combination of her magic with Regina's can stop this catastrophe. They join forces and … it works! Storybrooke is saved!

About a boy

Whew! The ominous vines and trees that were taking over the town disappear. All seems well ... except where's Henry?I

n the hubbub, Greg and Tamara have taken him. It seems that destroying Storybrooke wasn't their goal -- Henry was their real target. They use a bean to open a portal and an anguished Emma and Regina watch helplessly as the three jump through.

Mr. Gold and Belle come running up, but he's powerless without a way of opening the portal. But what is that on the horizon? Hook's ship returning? Why?!

Let's go to the flashback! Bae is packed up and ready to leave. Hook tries one last time to reason with him, but the young boy is determined to survive on his own. That won't come to pass, though, as the Lost Boys show up to take him away. Bae screams that Hook is just like his father. Heart. Broken!

Guess that reminiscing -- and Neal's "death" -- woke up Hook's conscience. He returns, with the bean, and willing to help. Everyone boards, but Gold holds Belle back; he wants her to stay, follow some instructions to make the town invisible again, and hold down the fort. They say tearful farewells, with Belle promising that they'll see each other again (why does that strike such dread in us?)

On board, Gold conjures up a globe to point them in Henry's direction. Greg and Tamara took him to -- you guessed it -- Neverland! Gold warns them that the place is ruled by "someone we all should fear." Hook opens the portal with the bean, and the ship sails in.